“That scoundrel, instead of bringing flowers to Pablo Escobar, he should have brought flowers to the victims of violence in this city,” Gutierrez reportedly told local media. “He must offer an apology to the city,” Gutierrez said, adding that Khalifa was “not welcomed” back.

Dozens of others took to social media to protest Khalifa’s apparent praise of the late drug lord, whose cartel killed thousands in the 1980s and 90s.